Henry the Fowler

Henry the Fowler (876-2 July 936) was King of East Francia from 24 May 919 to 2 July 936, succeeding Conrad I of Germany and preceding Otto the Great.

Biography
Henry was born in 876 in Memleben, Saxony-Anhalt, the son of Otto I of Saxony and Hedwiga of Franconia; this made him a great-great-great-grandson of Charlemagne matrilineally. He married Matilda of Ringelheim in 909 after his marriage to Hatheburg von Merseburg was annulled due to her being a former nun. Matilda would bear him Otto the Great, Hedwig of Saxony, Gerberga of Saxony, Henry I of Bavaria, and Bruno the Great of Cologne.

Henry became Duke of Saxony in 912 on his father's death. Despite being in constant warfare with the Duchy of Franconia, he strengthened his position in the Kingdom of Germany; his rival Conrad I of Germany, also Duke of Franconia, recommended him as his successor before he died in 919. Henry therefore became King of East Francia, and he forced Arnulf of Bavaria to submit to him after two campaigns in 921. On 7 November 921, he concluded a friendship treaty with Charles the Simple after defeating a failed invasion by West Francia, but from 923 to 924 he ruled over Lorraine after conquering it from Charles' successor Robert I of France. In 928, Henry seized Brandenburg from the Hevelli Slavs, and he forced Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia to pay tribute to him the next year. In 933, he defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Riade in central Germany, conquered territories held by the Wends, and conquered Schleswig from the Danes in 934. Henry died in 936, and his son Otto the Great succeeded him.